MORGANTOWN, WV – Sierra Club volunteers gathered at the entrance of this year’s FirstEnergy shareholder’s meeting, waving signs and singing songs as exec

Ohio Sierra Club members show their signs as they prepare to join today’s rally at the FirstEnergy shareholders meeting

utives and key investors passed by hundreds of colorful yard signs that had been set up along the roadway by volunteers traveling from as far as Ohio and Pennsylvania. The signs, charcoal grey with bright red text, listed the different ways FirstEnergy is failing its customers in the different states: “FirstEnergy Failing on Energy Efficiency,” “FirstEnergy Failing on Coal Ash,” “FirstEnergy Failing Working Families,” and “FirstEnergy Failing on Service.”

“We came down here to Morgantown to send one message to FirstEnergy: you’re accountable to the people of Ohio, and you can’t escape your failing record by changing the location of your meeting,” said Dave Simons, FirstEnergy customer and Energy Chair for the Ohio Sierra Club. “As your customers, we’re the ones paying for your rate hikes and your opposition to energy efficiency, and we demand that you clean up your act.”

FirstEnergy has consistently fallen behind other Ohio utilities in its investments into energy efficiency, has lobbied in the statehouse to roll back the standards, and has fought to resist and undermine the existing standards before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. The result has been lackluster efficiency programs, including a 2009 fiasco in which customers were charged $21 for a pair of energy efficient light bulbs. Because energy efficiency lowers electricity prices and reduces the need for polluting coal-fired power, the effect of FirstEnergy’s policies has been higher prices and dirtier air for Ohioans.

The annual shareholders meeting had originally been scheduled to be held in Akron, where FirstEnergy is headquartered, and where last year’s meeting provoked a large protest. Volunteers from the Ohio Sierra Club traveled to Morgantown to show that FirstEnergy executives cannot escape their failing record by moving the location of their meeting. The Ohio volunteers were joined by others from FirstEnergy’s service area, including Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

“We count on our utilities to do the best by their customers,” said Dan Sawmiller, Senior Ohio Campaign Representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign. “Right now, FirstEnergy is wasting energy and failing Ohio. FirstEnergy needs to embrace strong energy efficiency programs that will lower our electricity prices and clean up our air.”

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The fracking industry has a problem – it generates toxic, radioactive waste in the forms of mud from drilling, and liquid from the chemical cocktails used to get fossil fuels from deep underground – and they don’t know where to put it.

Take action to keep radioactive liquid fracking waste out of our landfills!

Right now, ODNR is working to include language in the state budget that would allow fracking waste to be blended with dirt and used as “daily cover” in Ohio’s landfills. We know enough about Ohio’s poor reputation for landfills to be sure that this is not the answer.

Tell your senator to keep us safe from radioactive waste!

This fall, the Ohio legislature will be reviewing landfill regulations. This review – not the budget – is the right time to make appropriate amendments that do the right thing to keep radioactive waste out of landfills.

May 10, 2013

Contact: Jed Thorp, jed.thorp@sierraclub.org, (614) 461-0734 x 303

Sierra Club Statement on Cancellation of Eastlake Natural Gas Project

The Eastlake power plant, scheduled to close its coal fired units by 2015, will no longer retrofit the plant with natural gas. Image source: cleveland.com

COLUMBUS – Today Jed Thorp of the Ohio Chapter of the Sierra Club released the following statement after FirstEnergy and American Municipal Power scrapped plans for a natural gas project in Eastlake:

“This is yet another sign to Ohioans that there are better alternatives to fossil fuels.  A 21st century energy economy means looking at ways to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and lower energy prices, rather than forcing customers to become reliant on new forms of dangerous extraction, like fracking for natural gas. We strongly encourage utilities to instead meet demand with increased energy efficiency, which is cheaper for customers and better for the environment than natural gas.”

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio recently ruled that FirstEnergy must bid their energy efficiency programs into this year’s electricity auction.  Bidding for energy efficiency alongside other forms of energy is expected to lower prices. In their ongoing efforts to repeal Ohio’s renewable energy and energy efficiency benchmarks, FirstEnergy has used the potential for shale gas development in Ohio as an excuse to abandon the standards, but today’s announcement contributes to a growing body of evidence showing that energy efficiency continues to be the less expensive option.

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As we see more and more fracking waste generated within and outside Ohio, concerns around the safety of the UIC program are becoming more pronounced.  Earlier this year, an incident involving the dumping of thousands of gallons of fracking waste into a stormsewer in Youngstown, OH typifies these concerns.  Despite being a chronic violator, the owner of the well site where this dumping activity occurred was continually issued new permits from ODNR.

What’s more, ODNR has a disincentive to enforce regulations and limit waste injection, because it derives revenue from the amount of waste injected in Ohio.  ODNR is mismanaging the UIC program and doesn’t have the necessary resources to ensure that it is operated safely.  Thus, the US EPA must intervene, audit UIC program, and remove ODNR’s oversight.

Click here to view our letter to US EPA Region 5, and click here to tell Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman to protect Ohio.

Send a note to US EPA Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman, and ask her to ensure the safety of Ohio and its citizens!

Under Ohio’s current proposed budget, half of the revenue from fracking in state parks would go to the Clean Ohio Fund - which exists to fund cleanups in Ohio. This funding structure guarantees a net loss for Ohio’s environment by funding cleanups by making a bigger mess, in our state parks.

Tell Your Senator right now that the path to a Clean Ohio is not through dirty fracking in our state parks!

Search the map to find a location near you, then call and make an appointment or RSVP today.

View Aveda Earth Month Events in a full screen map

Aveda is committed to environmental health and integrity through its eco-friendly products, naturally derived ingredients, and its charitable giving program. For the past 7 years, Sierra Club and Aveda have teamed up in Ohio and developed the Ohio Water Sentinel and Clean Water Fellowship Programs. Together, we will restore, improve, and protect Ohio’s waterways one stream, one river, and one wetland at a time.

Watch our 2013 Earth Month Video to Learn More!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlsLi0KdIeI

View Ohio Fracking Map in a full screen map

Watch our 2013 Earth Month Video to Learn More!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlsLi0KdIeI

Have fun while supporting Sierra Club at an Earth Month event near you. There are so many opportunities to get involved from recycled fashion shows, cut-a-thons, cocktails for a cause, and more!!

• Southern Ohio Event Page
• Central Ohio Event Page
• Northern Ohio Event Page
• Find an Aveda Salon Near You

If you can’t attend an Earth Month event but would still like to support the Clean Water Campaign, you can make a donation directly to the Ohio Chapter, DONATE NOW!

To learn more, contact the Clean Water Campaign.

Join us for updates on the top legislative priorities for 2013 and in-person lobbying of YOUR legislators.  More information can be found HERE or at www.theoec.org.